You can transfer a Lifetime, Help to Buy, Stocks and shares, or Cash ISA to an AJ Bell Lifetime ISA. It’s free to open an account, and we won’t charge you anything to transfer in.
Transferring is easy. First, you’ll need to open a Lifetime ISA – but only if you’re aged between 18 and 39. You can save up to £4,000 a year (until you turn 50), tax-free and topped up with the 25% government LISA bonus. If you already have an account open with another Lifetime ISA provider, you can transfer it to us, up to age 50.
What can you transfer into a Lifetime ISA?
Help to Buy ISA
You can transfer your Help to Buy ISA into a Lifetime ISA and give yourself a helping hand getting onto the housing ladder.
While you can save into a Help to Buy ISA and a Lifetime ISA at the same time, you can only use one account to buy your first home. So, it can pay to consolidate.
A Lifetime ISA lets you save more than a Help to Buy ISA (up to £4,000 a year). That opens up the possibility of a larger government boost to your savings.
And while all Help to Buy ISAs are cash only, an AJ Bell Lifetime ISA lets you invest – and potentially make your money work even harder.
You can choose to transfer all, or just some, of your Help to Buy ISA into a Lifetime ISA – as long as you don't transfer more than your £4,000 annual LISA allowance during a single tax year. If you've already paid into your LISA this tax year, you can only transfer the amount that remains of your £4,000 allowance.
Money you've paid into your Help to Buy ISA during this tax year has already been counted towards your overall £20,000 ISA allowance. Transferring it to your Lifetime ISA won't use up any more of this allowance.
Lifetime ISA
If you already have an account with another Lifetime ISA provider, you can transfer the full value of this into an AJ Bell Lifetime ISA.
Transferring an existing Lifetime ISA won’t be counted as a payment into your LISA, so it won’t use up your £4,000 annual payment limit. However, if you have already used up your £4,000 allowance, you can’t pay any more into your LISA once it’s been transferred.
As the payments you’ve made into your Lifetime ISA have already been counted in your overall ISA allowance of £20,000, the transfer won’t change the amount you have left of that.
Stocks and shares ISA
You can transfer cash from a Stocks and shares ISA from another provider into an AJ Bell Lifetime ISA, and you’ll receive the 25% government bonus on the amount transferred.
You can also transfer cash from an AJ Bell Stocks and shares ISA to an AJ Bell Lifetime ISA – you’ll need to open a Lifetime ISA or log in and then click on ‘Move cash between accounts’ on the ‘My account’ menu.
The transfer will count as a payment into the Lifetime ISA so you can only transfer in up to £4,000. If you’ve already made payments into your LISA, you can only transfer in the amount you have left of your annual LISA allowance.
As any payments you’ve made into your Stocks and shares ISA this tax year have already been counted in your overall ISA allowance of £20,000, the transfer won’t change the amount you have left of that.
If the value of your current year savings in your Stocks and shares ISA is more than £4,000, you won't be able to transfer part of it over. This is because the AJ Bell ISA doesn’t accept partial transfers of current year payments. You could however transfer cash from any payments you've made in previous years.
As the transfer has to be done in cash, you’ll need to have the cash available in your Stocks and shares ISA.
Matured Child Trust Fund
If you hold a Child Trust Fund for your child, once they turn 18, they can transfer it into a Lifetime ISA to help them save for their first home, or for retirement.
Learn more about transferring a matured Child Trust Fund.
Cash ISA
You can transfer a cash ISA from another provider into an AJ Bell Lifetime ISA, and you’ll receive the 25% government bonus on the amount transferred.
The transfer will count as a payment into the Lifetime ISA so you can only transfer in up to £4,000. If you’ve already made payments into your LISA, you can only transfer the amount you have left of your annual LISA allowance.
As any payments you’ve made into your cash ISA this tax year have already been counted in your overall ISA allowance of £20,000, the transfer won’t change the amount you have left of that.
If the value of your current year savings in your Stocks and shares ISA is more than £4,000, you won't be able to transfer part of it over. This is because the AJ Bell ISA doesn’t accept partial transfers of current year payments. You could however transfer cash from any payments you've made in previous years.
Why transfer into our AJ Bell Lifetime ISA?
- A government bonus of 25%
- Transfers for over 40s
- Great investment ideas whether you're after a little help, or a lot, including AJ Bell managed funds and our Favourite funds list
- A wide range of investments including funds, shares, investment trusts, exchange traded funds (ETFs), bonds and gilts
- Free to open, low dealing and account charges
Open a Lifetime ISA Explore our Lifetime ISA
What else do you need to consider when transferring?
- The AJ Bell Lifetime ISA has been designed for investing in shares and funds. Investments don’t offer the same security as cash and can fall in value – meaning you could get back less than you invest.
- You can only open an AJ Bell Lifetime ISA if you’re aged between 18 and 39 – or transfer it under age 50.
- A Lifetime ISA must be funded for 12 months before you can use it to buy your first home.
- Unlike other types of ISA where you can withdraw some or all of your cash at any time, there are restrictions on withdrawing cash from a Lifetime ISA.
- You’ll need to fund your account in the same tax year you open it – otherwise we’ll need to close it. So if you intend to fund your LISA by transferring in, it’ll need to complete before then end of the tax year.
Get your money working for you
More about Lifetime ISAs
Everything you need to know about Lifetime ISAs, from how the government bonus works, to how you can avoid any withdrawal penalties.
Open a Lifetime ISA
Whether you’re buying your first home or saving for retirement, get a 25% bonus up to £1,000 each tax year when you add money to a Lifetime ISA.
Transfer an account
Thinking of moving a Lifetime ISA over to us? It’s easy. We'll just need a few details of your current provider, then we’ll do the rest.
Important information: A Lifetime ISA is not for everyone. If you withdraw money before age 60, other than to purchase your first home, you’ll pay a government withdrawal charge of 25%. This may mean you get back less from your LISA than you paid in. Also, if you choose to save in a Lifetime ISA instead of enrolling in, or contributing to, your workplace pension scheme, you’ll miss out on the benefit of your employer’s contributions to that scheme, and your current and future entitlement to means tested benefits may be affected. Remember that how you’re taxed depends on your circumstances, and Lifetime ISA and tax rules could change.